New Twist in Legal Battle as Milo Represents Himself

The saga of openly gay, and yet curiously alt-right, social gadfly Milo Yiannopoulos' lawsuit against publisher Simon & Schuster just took a whole new twist with the news that Milo will now be representing himself.

Milo had secured representation through the law firm Meister Seelig & Fein, but that ended with a Jan. 5 announcement from one of the firm's lawyers, Jeffrey P. Weingart, to the effect that Yiannopoulos would no longer be represented by them Buzzfeed reported.

Weingart made reference to "a breakdown in the relationship" and indicated that continuing to represent Yiannopoulos would be "impossible."

For his part, Milo praised the firm as "excellent litigators on my behalf" and accused Simon & Schuster of using legal maneuvers that prevented him from seeing material pertinent to the suit. For that reason, Yiannopoulos said, he will now represent himself.

Yiannopoulos had a book deal in place with Simon & Schuster when headlines broke of comments he had made that seemed to endorse pedophilia. Social conservatives suddenly turned their backs on the openly gay right-wing poster boy en masse, in a way that they didn't quite manage with Alabama state senatorial candidate Roy Moore when Moore was accused by multiple women of inappropriate conduct, including with a minor.

Part of the instant backlash Yiannopoulos faced was the cancellation of his memoir, titled "Dangerous." Yiannpopoulos sued for $10 million; meantime, the book saw the light of day on July 4, 2017 via another publishing outlet. Text at the book's Amazon page declared, "Now, finally, 'Dangerous,' the most controversial book of the decade, is tearing down safe spaces everywhere."

Even before the publishing deal was scrapped by Simon & Schuster, all was not sunshine and sweetness; at least one editor had lambasted Milo's manuscript.

As previously reported by EDGE, editor Mitchell Ivers laid into the memoir in unflattering terms, apparently addressing the author with unvarnished criticism. "Throughout the book, your best points seem to be lost in a sea of self-aggrandizement and scattershot thinking," one note chided.

Vulture revealed a trove of similar takedowns, including gems like, "Paris Hilton is NOT the best authority to quote here," "Smorgasbords don't have bottoms," and "You can't say ugly people are drawn to the left. Have you seen people at a Trump rally?"

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.